GM Quader slams Official Secrets Act

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader yesterday demanded formation of a judicial inquiry committee to investigate the harassment of senior journalist Rozina Islam.

Demanding immediate release and withdrawal of case filed against her, the JP chief said the Official Secrets Act is an "expired black law". In an independent and democratic state, such black law is against public interest, he added.

GM Quader said this while speaking at a human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

JP south city unit organised the event, protesting the arrest of Rozina and Israeli aggression on people of Palestine.

GM Quader, also deputy leader of the opposition in parliament, said legal action should be taken against those who harassed Rozina.

He said to ensure free flow of information, freedom of media workers must be ensured.

The brutality committed against Rozina, an investigative reporter of Prothom Alo, was an unforgivable crime, he added.

An investigative reporter will collect information from different means and there is nothing wrong in it, GM Quader added.

"Due to the reports by investigative reporters, we know the news of looting in different government departments," he added.

GM Quader said Rozina had collected information for the sake of her profession. She is fulfilling her responsibility to inform the nation and in the interest of the country.

Collecting information is not a crime, he added.

JP secretary general Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said due to lack of democracy in the country, people cannot speak freely. Media workers are not able to reveal the truth; there is no freedom of the media, he added.

He also said media workers who are coming forward to reveal the truth are being tortured. The attack on Rozina cannot be accepted in a civilised society, he added.